A change-up from the lights and brights of summer, today’s NOTD are a grey and black stamp art, using L’oreal Greycian Goddess and Wet & Wild Black Creme. Also use a nail dotter and a plate from Nailpolishcanada.com, who I support as they are a business local to me (Vancouver area) and have fantastic service.

And the other paw!

I’ve used this nail stamp plate before and i was certain I had done posts for it, but I can’t find them. Here are some pics of previous incarnations of the circuit board stamp!

It’s rare that I will splurge for higher end/cosmetics counter (read: non drugstore) cosmetics, but when I do, it’s often when there’s a gift with purchase full of things I think I will like, the minimum buy is low, and I can make that amount by buying things I use/will use. In this case, it was a couple of lipsticks, which will be reviewed in a later post. This Clinique Bonus included a cute makeup bag, a Chubby Lash mascara, a Chubby Stick blush in Roly Poly Rosy, a Chubby Stick eyeshadow in Lots o’ Latte, a Chubby Stick lippie in Chunk Cherry, a Rinse Off Foaming Cleanser, and a Dramatically Different Moisturizing Cream. They advertised it as a full look.

The Chubby Lash mascara ($21CAD for full size) came in a cute little tube that dispenses a HUGE amount of product. The picture below is brightened so you can see the enormous amount of excess globbed on to the wand. This tube needed a much smaller opening. I had to scrape most of the mascara back off along the opening of the tube to make it usable, while not wasting product.The brush itself was also far larger than it needed to be, and I found I had a hard time not getting it all over my eyelids and surrounding area. The formula, however, was fantastic. It built up well, and barely flaked all day! The black was also nice, deep, and rich. If you can tolerate a globby, too big wand, this mascara might be for you!

Clinique Chubby Lash Mascara in Jumbo Jet

The Chubby Stick Cheek Colour Balm ($27CAD for full size) came in a swivel tube larger than it needed to be for the amount it contained, but it was sturdy and it worked. The shade was a lovely, slightly warm pinkish red which blended out smoothly to a natural looking flush. No shimmer. Beautiful finish. Swatches on NC 20/25 skin. I didn’t notice any fading over the course of the day, it stays exactly where you put it, and it didn’t break me out. I quite like this blush!

Clinique Chubby Stick Cheek Colour Balm

The Chubby Stick Shadow Tint For Eyes ($21CAD for full size) in Lots O’ Latte is a cool leaning taupe-ish light brown with a hint of shimmer. Goes on pale, but builds up with a few swipes. Blends out easily with a finger. The colour did fade a bit, but was still visible at the end of the day even on my oily lids (I do use my foundation as a primer, however.) I might not use it every day, but have used it very frequently as a one-and-done eye colour on days I don’t feel like fussing about with multiple powder shadows, or am pressed for time. I like it enough to consider purchasing it in other shades! But right now I’m happy with just this one.

Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint in Lots O’ Latte

The Chubby Stick Lip Colour Balm in Chunky Cherry ($21CAD for full size) is of your standard swivel twist up lip crayon variety. The shade is a light red which is very sheer and wearable. It doesn’t last very long, but is at least moisturizing. I’d say even Revlon’s Lipbutters last longer than this, but that’s really my only complaint. I like it for a refreshing wash of colour, and it would be great for someone who wants to wear a red but is scared of the intensity. Shown below with 5 passes, then just one.

Clinique Chubby Stick Chunky Cherry

The cleanser I also liked. A small amount lathered well and spread around well to remove the day’s makeup. No fragrance! It did leave my skin feeling almost too clean, and I have oily skin. Someone with dry or sensitive skin would feel that this over strips your natural moisture. I like it so far as it performs well, might consider a full size purchase. Especially at bonus time….(scratch that, I just tried looking for it on their website for a full price quote in Canadian dollars, and it’s not there at the time of this post!)

The Dramatically Different Moisturizing Cream is.. well.. not. There is nothing exciting or advanced in this cream’s ingredients. I don’t require a moisturizer beyond my staple Neutrogena Healthy Skin retinol treatment, so I’ve used this as nothing but a hand cream. As a hand cream, it soaks in well and leaves a nice smooth, soft finish to the skin. Non greasy. Non fragranced. Non interesting.

Lastly, the cosmetics bag has a cute cheery print of Clinique’s Chubby Stick lippes, seems well made and is roomy enough to carry what you’d probably want to take along cosmetic wise for a vacation or short trip. I like it.

All around this gift with purchase has fully impressed me, and would encourage me to purchase many of these products in full size. They picked some fantastic products for this gift with purchase! Coming up in a future post, reviews on some Clinique lipsticks, in Plum Pop and A Different Grape!

Happy Halloween! This years Halloween nails will be stamped, as I found a cute plate with some spooooooky images. I used Wet n’ Wild Black Creme, Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Sally Hansen Hot Tamale as it’s the closest thing I have to a true orange. Stamping plate was found on ebay.

The left paw from thumb to pinky: Trick or Treat with bat, furry spider, jack-o-lantern, cutest ghosts ever, and my favourite, a haunted house!

Halloween Nails

The right paw from thumb to pinky (a little sloppier): spider web, witch on a broom, jack-o-lantern, bats, spooky spider!

This is my first MAC polish. I found this on clearance, and it’s dark, broody shade immediately appealed. I didn’t know who Brooke Candy was, didn’t really care, but looked it up. I remain indifferent. Look her up if you want to, you may regret it. Anyway, Black Stallion is a sheer blackened purple jelly that required 3-4 coats for opacity. Below is a swatch with one coat.

MAC Black Stallion One Coat

And 3 coats.

MAC Black Stallion Swatch

I didn’t mind that it needed so many coats. What I do mind, is that this started chipping the minute it dried. It’s didn’t even make it to the end of the day. Horrible, awful, terrible performance. I used my usual base and top coat, which usually buys me at least a couple days. This discourages me from ever purchasing another MAC polish, unfortunately. I pay more for a premium product, and even on clearance, this isn’t it.

Makeupalley’s Facebook page often shares possible dupes on the weekends. Today, one of them was regarding Nars Cruella and Nyx Snow White being possible dupes. Seeing as I had both, I decided to do some swatches for you! I added one to their post as well.

And also look pretty close in swatches! Photos taken in indoor light by a window, with flash, and then outdoors on an overcast day.

Nyx Snow White VS Nars Cruella Swatches

Nyx Snow White is actually more intensely pigmented, perhaps just a smidge deeper, and has a creme finish as opposed to Nars Cruella’s velvet matte finish. Now, my skintone can make any shade pull warmer than it is, therefore both of these almost look like they have a brown base, but they do not! They both look very pink once worn/wiped off, and it’s a clearly blue based pink. The flash also really brings out the pink. I wish that translated to my lips too. 😦

Having both of these too will likely last me a lifetime of super intense red lipping, but if I had to purchase one, of course I’d go for the cheaper Nyx. I did buy it in the first place after all, but the Nars Cruella as part of a Sephora birthday bonus they had at the time. I usually just use Snow White as a blush, just a tiny tiny dab on my finger blended out gently as a cream blush looks nice.

Pushing spring a little, today’s NOTD is Wet n Wild Be More Pacific from their Wildshine line. I think this is the only one I have from that line, but now that I’m thinking about it I may have a shimmery gold as well.

Formula was pretty good, thick but spread evenly, covered in one coat! Dry time was good, finish was shiny. Colour is a really nice balance between blue and green, a lovely teal. Swatches, one with flash, one without.

Wet N Wild Be More Pacific

Wet N Wild Be More Pacific

If I ever find more of these around, I won’t feel bad about snapping up more, I think this was about $1.79!

I received this a few weeks ago. Managed to get some pictures, and got around to finally posting today! This Flare Beauty Box was $8 CA, not a bad price considering the contents! What’s inside!

Flare Beauty Box Spring 2015

Flare Beauty Box Contents

First we have the Herbal Essences Wild Naturals, a large sample of both shampoo and conditioner. This didn’t wow me. There was nothing special about it performance or fragrance wise. Unless you are really into a very mild, light fruity figgy fragrance, skip this one.

Herbal Essences Wild Naturals

Next up, an Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash and Cover Girl Full Lash Bloom mascara, full size. I know my body doesn’t react well to the Olay body wash after a few uses, however it is a very luxurious feeling formula and I like washing my hands with it which doesn’t seem to bother them.

Cover Girl Full Lash Bloom, Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash

The mascara I haven’t used yet. I already know from prior experiences that I don’t like the plastic bristles on the wand, which poke my eye when trying to apply the product. As the mascara itself came sealed with the wand outside, I am using the wand to comb thru the tips of lashes coated with a different mascara, which it works wonderfully for. When I finish my current tube of Maybelline Cat Eyes, I will wash off that brush and see if it fits in the Cover Girl tube and use that one instead, to give the product a fair shake at being useful for me (I love the Cat Eyes wand!)

Then we have a couple sample packs of Olay Fresh Effects Mattifier. These usually don’t work for me, and this one was not much different. it seemed to be doing a great job for the first part of the day, but by the end I was even oilier than if I hadn’t used anything at all. Being fair, my day is pretty long, and I need makeup to hold on tight for 12 hours minimum.

Olay Fresh Effects Mattifier

My favourite portion of the box was the free full size of a Vidal Sassoon hair colour ($16 value.) I was excited about this, however they didn’t really have a perfect colour match for what I was looking for. I may have ended up with something a shade too dark. If so I will use it to paint in some lowlights. I didn’t get a closeup of the coupon.

Last up, Cover Girl lipstick in Succulent Cherry. The swatches below show the product as fairly sheer (one swipe on top, a few swipes underneath) and leaning pink. On my skin it leans warm with orange undertones, as my skin just makes colours lean this way unless very cool toned. Great for anyone who loves a red lip. I wear a red lip sometimes, and the sheerness of this could make it more wearable than others I have. I’m just worried about it looking too orange on me, especially under fluorescent lights at work.

What are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day? I might have a glass of wine, tops, and head to bed early. I wanted to do something quickly on the weekend for festive nails and was feeling lucky, so I slapped some green polish on, with some nail dotter blobs intended to hopefully look like clover.

I used Revlon ColorStay in Jungle, Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Rags to Riches (terrible this whole line has been discontinued, it was fantastic!) and a mini Revlon in Garden.

Hi! March is here and the days are beautiful here in the Vancouver area in the middle of the day lately, although early mornings and nights are still frozen. Makes it hard to get dressed for the weather in the morning! I have no place complaining knowing what the rest of Canada is like right now, hope you guys are ok over there!

I managed to find a small scrap of time to do my nails this week, and even more astoundingly, find a second scrap of time to post it! These are some very minimalist nails with Cover Girl Constant Candy and one single simple dot of OPI Black Onyx. It was inspired by a black polka dot ribbon off a perfume bottle, modeled below for extra polka-dotty effect!

This month has flown by for me, despite being full of rain, more rain only heavier, below freezing temperatures and even some snow, which is thankfully rare in Vancouver. I don’t like being so busy that I can’t post, and it’s been far too long. Long enough to have lots of empties! Plus one item that is not used up but was so bad it needs to go!

November Empties!

Numbered clockwise starting on the left.

1) Yves Rocher Yellow Peach Shower Gel

This was a pretty standard liquid soap/shower gel with a peachy fragrance. The peach scent was fresh and not overly ripe, but a little powdery which bothered me enough to not want to repurchase. The bottle was a generous 400ml/13.4 oz.

2) Aussie You Can Shine Hairspray

This was decent enough hairspray, it did it’s job. Had a nice citrusy fruity smell. I didn’t notice any stickiness or crispness. I would repurchase this if I found it on sale, which is how I found this can!

3) Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti Frizz Serum

Although most silicone serums for frizzy hair are mostly the same, this is one of my favourites. It has a nice fruity scent standard for any Fructis product, and has a thinner, easier to spread consistency which helps when you have super long, super fine hair like mine. The pump is also a winner. This is my second or third bottle of this and I will continue to rebuy until I can’t find it anymore!

4) Avon Moisture Therapy Calming Relief Creamy Body Wash

Although I would also recommend this for a body wash, I use it on my face! It removes makeup really well, does not irritate, and doesn’t leave any residue. If you have really dry skin I wouldn’t recommend use on your face but it does a great job on my oily skin! Contains oatmeal to soothe dry, tight, itchy skin. Been through many tubes of this!

5) Smashbox Full Exposure Eyeshadow Sampler

Now this one isn’t so much empty as it is impossible to use. The little patches of eye shadow sample were so dry and stuck on that application was impossible. I made the mistake of trying to make this work on a work day and had to scrap it mid way through. I’m sure the actual product is easier to use than this sample, but this sample has made me never want to try the real thing it was so bad. Complete failure in execution. Below is a picture of the tiny amount I managed to scrape off the card.

Smashbox Full Exposure Eye Shadow Sample

6) Neutrogena Acne Stress Control – 3 in 1 Hydrating Acne Treatment

I wouldn’t really call this hydrating so much as it is smoothing, and I can’t even comment on the stress control claim! The silicone base makes your skin feel soft and smooth, while being at the right ph level for the salicylic acid to do it’s work. If I stop using this for a few days, I can feel and see the negative effect in my skin, getting flakier with more clogged pores. I will buy this as long as I can find it in Canada, as there is no other affordable, gentle, effective salicylic acid leave on treatment option that I am aware of in the country. Clean & Clear has a version of something similar which is only available in the US, and everything else I can find here has alcohol and other irritants in it.

7) NYC Color in a New York Minute – Grand Central Station

How often is it you finish a bottle of nail polish before it goes all weird on you? This isn’t my first finished bottle of the fast drying NYC clear coat, and certainly not my last. I will buy this as long as I can still find it in Canada. Currently I have to purchase it online to find it at all! Fantastic product. Did a full review here.

8) Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait

I usually reach for pinks and reds, but somehow this peachy lip butter with tiny golden flecks has managed to work itself in many daily looks! It complements both warm and cooler eye looks and doesn;t look garish under fluorescent lighting. It has well earned it’s place as a daily favourite. Will I buy again? Absolutely, just waiting for a sale! The are otherwise around $10 in Canada.

9) L’Oreal Voluminous Waterproof Mascara – Black

It may have been in blackest black or carbon black, I don’t remember, but it was, and is, a great mascara! This is the closest in formulation and brush as my long discontinued in Canada old favourite Full n’ Soft Mascara. It doesn’t clump too much, it holds a curl better than some, doesn’t flake (until you get to the end of the lifespan of the tube) and is perfectly waterproof without being too much of a pain to wash off. I will continue buying this when found on sale as long as it’s being made!

Hope everyone had a good November and you’re staying warm! Or cool if you’re one of my Aussie readers!